Affection/Five
FIVE ~ ASHPAW it was an uphill battle to convince the Clan they thought it was tattle we had to think up a plan After a long, restless night in the apprentices' den, where I didn't get to sleep a wink due to apprehension, I finally woke up to the next morning to the BurnClan camp being like it usually was. The rest of the Clan seemed so calm compared to myself. I thought that the previous day probably did that to me. I'd taken it greatly, and I knew that. I'd taken it at something large, something that would take a lot of work to surmount... maybe that's why I was struggling with it so much. Cheetahpaw, however, wasn't seeming to take the threat as seriously as I was. I could tell by her actions as she finally came out of the apprentices' den that morning, blinking out sleep from her eyes that she'd - at least - had some sleep. She saw me nearby, and I saw her eyes narrow as she saw me. "...Ashpaw, you look exhausted. What have you been doing all night?" I yawned: the lack of sleep was doing my body no good. I'd try and get a nap after Shadestar had finished asking Cheetahpaw and I on details on what happened yesterday, before Leopardbreeze would attempt to shove me out for more training. "I... I tried sleeping, b-but... I just cou-couldn't get to sl-sleep," I stuttered, as I yawned again. I closed my eyes for a moment, trying to see if that would help as well. "Stop being such a worry-wart, Ashpaw," I heard Cheetahpaw say. "It isn't as big as you may think." But I ignored her: oh no, this was my issue, and my alone. After I opened my eyes again, my gaze then settled on the gray-and-white deputy, who was sending the last of the patrols out of camp. The talk is coming, is all I could think. The night before, we'd been told that after all the patrols had been sent out, Firwillow - BurnClan's deputy, a mighty and strong one at that - would escort us in to Shadestar's den to discuss with him about. It was basically do or die. If you convinced him - yay for you, Clan would respect you, and the idea would be upheld. However, if Shadestar rejected it - he definitely wouldn't uptake what you had said to him, and some Clanmates might end up turning against you for it. BurnClan has very strong leadership forces, and if you're a lower rank to them, you must respect them. And trying to convince your Clan leader of things that he thinks are not true... well, let me say that I knew that was not a good thing. "...Cheetahpaw? Ashpaw? Are you ready to see Shadestar now?" I looked up too see Firwillow, the gray-and-white deputy's pelt distinctly ruffled as she stared at us, waiting for an answer. I bit my tongue, wanting Cheetahpaw to speak. ...and speak she did. The golden she-cat flicked her darker tail at Firwillow, and dipped her head. "Lead the way, Firwillow," she instructed politely. Firwillow nodded back, and soon the two of us were heading across the camp, to Shadestar's den... ...It was time for us to find out our fate. ~ ~ Shadestar's den was situated in a quiet corner of the BurnClan camp, away from all the rest of the dens, so that the leader never really got bothered with anything. In fact, usually, no cat went near Shadestar's den unless they had good reason to, or if they were with the deputy or the medicine cat, who would visit there often. We were led in there with Firwillow before the deputy turned around and left. She wasn't allowed to eavesdrop on this conversation: she usually got to, but this apparently, to Shadestar, was an exception. And messing around with Shadestar was not an option. He looked formidable, especially if you were his opponent in battle. With very dark gray - almost black - fur with a smoky tinge to it, and yellow-green eyes that stood out against his dark pelt, he looked very leader-like. He was also very handsome - consequently attracting a whole lot of she-cats to moon over him. As we arrived, Shadestar made us sit down on the moss. I shot a look at Cheetahpaw, who now looked slightly nervous when confronted with her leader, as I sat down. She followed soon after. "You're Ashpaw and Cheetahpaw, right?" Shadestar asked us. As Cheetahpaw - and then myself - nodded, I heard the tom supress a purr. "That's nice - I[ve heard of your arguments. You're not arguing for once, hmm...?" What does it look like? I thought bitterly at this comment. Of course we're not fighting, what are you thinking? We're talking to you, obviously, why would we fight in front of you. I was thankful that Shadestar couldn't read minds in that particular moment, though his gaze did flash at me for a moment. "...So, what were you wanting to discuss with me? Redsky came back to camp yesterday, and told me about this... 'Darkness' thing." His voice dropped a little bit as he said the last two words. There was a silence after this. Naturally, I assumed that Cheetahpaw would speak first - she being the more outgoing of the two of us - and I was right. "...Yes, that's right...?" she mewed slowly to Shadestar, her voice shrill. Shadestar nodded at the black-spotted apprentice. "Go on, then." Cheetahpaw, while shooting a side-glare at my fellow apprentice, looked nervous to be speaking in front of the Clan leader. However, she did speak anyway. "W-Well," she started, with a bit of a stutter, "Ashpaw and I were hunting yesterday, when we saw some cats - not from the Clan - trespassing on our territory. They attacked Ashpaw, and they said they'd return in half a moon to take us down." At the end of Cheetahpaw's retelling of the events, I heard Shadestar snort. I knew at once that this was not a good sign. "How many cats were there?" the dark gray leader grunted, his eyes narrowed to slits. This time, I spoke up. "Th-three," I squeaked, shooting a look at Shadestar, who looked surprised as he went and returned my look. He nodded, but he still looked unconvinced. I could tell this as not working. "...Is that all?" he mewed, after a long sigh. Cheetahpaw dipped her head. "...Yes, Shadestar..." She had now started to trembling. Shadestar sighed, and even before he said another word, I knew all hope was lost - we hadn't managed to convince him. Consequently, I was not surprised by his following words: "...I don't believe you." standing up for what's right can be hard to do but sometimes it's best to rebel despite people despising what you knew